It all started with Florida-Gulf Coast, who rode the #DunkCity wave to the Sweet 16 as a No. 15 seed with upsets of Georgetown and San Diego State. The attention that the program derived from that postseason run and the enthralling style that head coach Andy Enfield had his team play resulted in him getting hired by USC to take over the program when Kevin O’Neill was fired.

With quite a bit of talent returning and a palpable buzz around a program at a school on the beach in Florida, FGCU was an enticing job. Kansas assistant coach Joe Dooley won the #DunkCity sweepstakes and was hired to take over the program. Bill Self needed to fill the void that Dooley left on his staff, so he hired Jerrance Howard, then an assistant at SMU and a former player under Self at Illinois.

With an opening on his staff, Larry Brown tapped into the coaching staff of a team that reached the Final Four, hiring away KT Turner from Wichita State. That hiring opened up a spot for Forbes to be hired by Gregg Marshall.

If Forbes is going to send anyone a thank you note for his hiring, it should probably be Brett Comer, Sherwood Brown and the rest of FGCU’s roster.